BEWARE! Fake Coronavirus vaccine multi-million dollar scam busted! China at it again?
China is at it again! The leader of a multi-million dollar scam that passed off saline solution and mineral water as Covid-19 vaccines has been arrested in China.
China is at it again! The leader of a multi-million dollar scam that passed off saline solution and mineral water as Covid-19 vaccines has been arrested in China. The man, identified as Kong, had researched the packaging designs of real vaccines before making more than 58,000 of his own concoctions, an IANS report said quoting BBC. A batch of the vaccines were smuggled overseas, but it is not known where they were sent to. Kong is among 70 people who have been arrested for similar crimes.
The arrests, involving more than 20 cases, came as Beijing vowed to crack down on fraudulent vaccines.
Even though most of the cases surfaced late last year, new details were released this week.
According to a court ruling, Kong and his team made a profit of 18 million yuan ($2.78 million) by putting saline solution or mineral water in syringes and hawking them as Covid vaccines since August last year.
A batch of 600 of these vaccines were sent to Hong Kong last November, before they were shipped abroad. The sales were made on the basis the vaccines were acquired via "internal channels" of genuine manufacturers.
In other cases, counterfeit vaccines were sold at inflated prices in hospitals. Other criminals also conducted inoculation programmes of their own and had "village doctors" vaccinate people with fake jabs in their homes and cars.
China's highest prosecuting body, the Supreme People's Procuratorate has urged regional agencies to cooperate with the police to curb such activities. Officials had hoped to administer 100 million Covid doses before the Lunar New Year last week, but has only vaccinated 40 million people so far. However, the country has largely managed to bring the pandemic under control with strict lockdown, testing and tracing measures.
Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
lok-sabha-elections-2024-final phase-7 voting-date-last day to vote general election timings-states-seats-key-candidates-constituencies-ls-polls-general-election-schedule-time-table-results-date
From Axis to IDFC First - These bank stocks can give bumper returns in 3-4 weeks – Check target price and stop loss
Rules Changing from June 1: Aadhaar card update, driving license, LPG price and others - Check Full List
Central Railways' 63-hour mega block to hit Mumbai local train services, check dates and other details
SBI Senior Citizen FD Interest Rates 2024: What Rs 2 lakh, Rs 4 lakh, and 6 lakh, and Rs 8 lakh investments will give you in 1-, 3-, and 5-year FDs
Gold and Silver rate today (May 30, 2024): Precious metal futures trade in red; yellow metal near Rs 72,000, white metal falls by nearly Rs 1,500
Top 5 Defence PSU Stocks: Investors buying 1 unit of top PSU defence stock a month made Rs 40,299.40 on Rs 23,003.25 investment in 1 year
02:46 PM IST